evasion

"Edward," I breathed as my eyes landed on his as he came towards the cabin.

Jake was beside him and flinched slightly as I said Edward's name. I grimaced. It was little wonder that Edward didn't believe me when I had claimed I'd moved on with the way my heart always betrayed my mind's wisdom.

I was surprised to see Jake next to Edward since he had said he was going back to the party no more than an hour ago.

"What's going on?"

"I was going through the stuff in the trunk you left in your room and ran across the two plane tickets that the Denalis gave you to go up and see them. I called your keeper –" There was heavy sarcasm as he said the words "– because they're about to expire, and thought you should use them so as to not offend our cousins."

"It's your family, not mine. And I thought I told you to tell Carlisle he could make that room his office again. I'm not going back."

It was Edward's turn to flinch, but he squared his shoulders quickly and narrowed his eyes. "Are you really enjoying this imprisonment that Jacob has you under that much?"

"Over the risk of getting on a jet with tons of humans? Yes." I crossed my arms over my chest. "Besides, as you just pointed out, La Push is my prison for the time being."

Jake threw his arms up in exasperation at my words, stalking several feet away at that. Edward chuckled at whatever my friend was thinking. I was quite certain it was something unflattering about stubbornness and me.

"Well, you do have two tickets, in theory Jacob could go with you. Though I do suspect it will be quite awkward given that he was one of the ones that killed Irina's mate."

He meant Laurent, of course.

I looked away. "I think I should stay here. It's where I belong." I turned around and walked toward the cabin.

I didn't make it to the door before Jacob was in front of me. "You should go to Denali, Beau."

"Why?"

He narrowed his eyes and I could practically see him trying to calculate the right words to make me do what he apparently wanted me to. "Consider it a parole for good behavior."

I shook my head. "It's almost as if you want me to be with Edward," I grumbled the words.

"I want you to let go of whatever you're holding onto and be happy. When you first showed up here, I thought that maybe I was what would make that happen and subconsciously you knew that. But it's been two months, Beau, and let's face it, you aren't happy – and you aren't heading in that direction, either."

"I'm fine here, Jake. I'm not hurting anyone, and I help out whenever any of you need."

He grabbed my shoulders. "Do you not hear yourself now? This. Here." He waved his hand at the cabin. "Is not a permanent thing for you. Somewhere in that head of yours, I know that you know that. I'll always be here for you, but you and I both know that I can't be him to you." He made a motion towards Edward. "Isn't that what you once told me? That as long as there was a chance you and him could be together then you had to take it."

I stared at him, not replying.

He sighed. "I want you to go, Beau." His eyes were intense.

"Fine," I muttered.

He let go of my arms immediately and I headed into the cabin.

I felt, more than heard, as both Jacob and Jasper left which meant the only one that was left was Edward, who I was acutely aware of. He followed me into the cabin.

"Is the idea of spending time with me really that loathsome, Beau?"

I looked at him immediately. "Not even a little bit. I just don't deserve it anymore."

"Says who?"

"I know what I did, Edward, and it's not something that can be forgiven."

"Shouldn't I be the judge of that?"

"Yes, but Edward... If you found out the truth and then you and the family snuck off in the night again because of it –" I cut myself off, shaking my head. "– I can't go through that again, Edward. Not this time I guess you could call me selfish, because I'm unwilling to tell you what I'm sure would drive you off for good. But I... I just need to know that you're alright. And if you leave, there's no guarantee that Victoria won't follow you. Maybe once she's gone I can tell you." I shrugged.

"No matter what it is, I won't leave again, Beau." His words were so adamant that I almost believed them, but I was unable to forget the last time.

"Edward, the last time all of you left because it was a possibility that our future could end in disaster, not because I did something that was completely unforgivable, not because I wasn't worth it, not because you knew I was a soulless monster who had done unspeakable crimes... but because you thought that I might end up hating you. Now I am all of those things, and you want me to believe that you'll stay?" I looked down, feeling an emotion I couldn't really name swell up. "I want to trust that you're telling the truth, but Edward... I just can't."

I saw in the edge of my vision as he opened his mouth only to close it a moment later. Finally, he said, "Maybe our time with the Denalis will change your mind."

"Maybe it will." Part of me really wished it would... but I doubted it.

…

I was relatively sure that Edward was closer to panicking on the flight up to Alaska than I was. I wasn't as ignorant of the desire for human blood as I'd been before I'd tasted it... but after the last two months of attitude adjustment, as Jake called it, I was able to religiously avoid it.

Edward had sat me next to the window and every time a human came down the aisle he'd freeze up, clearly expecting me to attack. It made for a tense four hour flight.

The fire engine red Camaro that was waiting in the parking lot outside the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport looked very familiar. I knew it wasn't my Camaro though. Mine was at the bottom of the ocean.

I turned to Edward. "Do you have a thing for Chevrolets that I'm not aware of?"

"It's a rental. Besides, I didn't get a chance to drive the last one, Beau."

I snorted, but an amused grin lit my face.

He got in the driver's seat as I got in the passenger side, and then he took off, driving out of the town at the same neck breaking speeds he always did. My left hand found it's way into his right one without any conscious decision on my part as he drove us to the destination of the Denalis.

When we arrived at the Denalis house, I was surprised by the sight of the giant three story rustic looking log – cabin was the wrong word – mansion. It was huge, probably twice the size of the Cullens home in Forks.

The house was designed in a symbiotic pattern with the forest that surrounded it, the color of the wood matching the trees and the dark roof blending in with the dark green of the pine needles. There were dozens of windows – some large, some small – and the door had an arched top to it.

Edward pulled off to the side of the house in a small clear space – like a tiny parking lot – shutting the engine off.

"Come on, we're here."

We got out of the car just as the front door was opened and the ones I recognized as the Denalis from the photo I'd been given, came outside. At the front of the group was a woman that stood a couple inches shorter than me. She had a perfect chin and cheekbones with long flowing blonde hair.

To her left was the only male in the group. He was, by comparison to the three blonde females, tall but pudgy. He was probably about six and a half feet tall with a slightly noticeable weight.. He had that sort of figure that could only be described as nice to hold, at least until you looked at his face. Much like the rest of him, there was the slightest amount of chubbyness to his face and short dark brown hair, but for all of that, his eyes were the sharpest I'd ever seen. All of them had the same gold as Edward and myself, but Eleazor's – a former member of the Volturi, as I'd been told – held a glint of steel to them that was impossible to miss.

Beside him was the only woman with dark hair, Carmen. She too, was tall when compared to the others – about the same height as her mate. She had short dark brown hair that had an unkempt appearance to it, and was also on a slightly heavier side – though that wasn't to say that she was overweight, just not skinny. Both her and her mate had a very light olive complexion to their skin.

To the right of the one in front were the the two other blondes, both of them were at least as short as me. The one closest had extremely long hair with an angular face that I was sure some would call beautiful but many would consider too, almost elfin, to be considered that way. She was probably my height. The other, who stood slightly back from the rest, was the tallest of the three. Her hair was slightly longer, probably stopping at her waist, though it was hard to tell for sure as it was kept in what appeared to be a ponytail. She was a little more slender than the first two, her face a little less defined.

The one in front stepped over to Edward and kissed his cheek. There was an immediate flash-burn of emotions when I saw her do that. So I clenched my fists and counted to ten as I looked away, imagining something that would get me in trouble if I actually did it. I managed to calm myself and look back over just as the woman started to speak.

"Edward, it's so good to see you again." She looked at me. "And you must be Beau. I'm Tanya, and those are Kate and Irina, respectively," She motioned to the one with the elfin face first and then the one with the long hair. "And Carmen and Eleazor."

I stepped closer to her, holding out my hand in a genial gesture that was a hundred percent insincere. She took it. "It's a pleasure to meet you," I said quietly.

"Well you may be just meeting us for the first time, but I must admit, I feel like I already know you."

As she said the words, I wasn't sure if it was a complement... or something else.

"Well, you're definitely a shield. I'll give you that one. You're shielding yourself from my gift even now," Eleazar said suddenly, looking at me.

"So I've been told," I muttered the words, but they all heard me.

Eleazar smiled in a mix of a soothing smile and a wry grin. "Aro used to send me all over the globe looking for talents such as yours and here you are, apparently completely unaware of how unique you are."

"Not completely unaware, just completely unable to control it."

"He can use it for more than just himself though. He shielded me from an attack by Alec," Edward said.

Kate stepped over to me suddenly, holding her hand out for me to shake.

I reached forward just as Edward said, "That's really –" Our hands grasped each other's "– not necessary, Kate" Edward finished on a sigh.

"What?" I asked, looking at him.

"Yes, definitely a shield," Kate said, letting go of my hand as she chuckled.

Her words made me remember something I'd been told while I was burning from the change, something about Kate and electricity. "You were trying to shock me?" I looked at her.

"I was on my low setting. It wouldn't hurt. Much," she explained. "Of course, try was the operative word with you. Because you clearly didn't feel a thing."

"She doesn't have a low setting," the third blonde, Irina, muttered.

Kate chuckled. "Come on, Beau, let us show you around our home."

As we headed into their house, the first room would probably be described as a foyer by the architect who originally designed the home, but it was massive – more like a grand hallway than a traditional foyer. It stretched out over thirty feet long and at least half that in width. When I looked up, it went all the way up the top of the third story, the windows that had been lain into the wood, speckled natural light and ambiance into the room at different heights and angles. Maybe it was an atrium and not a foyer, after all.

We walked through the room into a living room that – in some ways – reminded me of the Cullens house as, on a raised floor was a grand piano made of a deep mahogany colored wood with gold trim designed on the sides in flowering shapes. It was bigger than the one Edward had, looking to be almost ten feet long. Beside it, was a beautiful harp with what looked like a gold pillar and crown, and a similar dark brown wooden soundbox and neck to the piano. I couldn't help but stare at both of the instruments.

Edward noticed my occupation. "That's a custom made concert grand piano by Steinway & Sons. The fact that the Denalis always live here allow them the luxury of owning such an instrument, and the harp behind it is by Louis XV. The two instruments together are worth over half a mil. They're beautiful, aren't they?"

I nodded, still not taking my eyes off of them.

Tanya turned, looking at us both. "Do you play, Beau?"

"Not really, but the instruments are gorgeous." I'd tried to play a little after I'd first been turned and could even play a few basic songs – mostly stuff found in a hymn book that only took a couple fingers on each hand, but more than that and I wasn't really capable of it. I just didn't have the right disposition or patience to play the way Edward did, nor did I have the right finger type. "Edward plays though." I was quite sure they already knew that so I wasn't certain why I'd said that.

"Yes, he does. He'll have to play you some music later."

The next room I was led into left me blinking and trying not to say something very inappropriate. The dining room had a gigantic round table with thirteen chairs around it. The table and the chairs were all very ornate, made of what appeared to be some type of blackwood.

After several seconds of staring, I couldn't stop myself from asking, "Why?"

"That table has been with us for several hundred years though many of the chairs were added later. I guess that, for the most part, it's just for show more than anything else," Kate supplied.

I couldn't keep from looking at the table every few moments, but I tried to absorb the beautiful paintings hung on the walls in gold and iron frames and the vases that were sat on several narrow hall tables sitting against the walls. The vases were elaborate and elegant – as well as old.

We moved from there into a kitchen that was grandiose and state of the art. The counters were solid black onyx and the backdrop of the equipment like the fridge, sink, dishwasher and more were all stainless steel. It was the type of kitchen you'd find in a five star restaurant – not in a house where no one ate, but since the Cullens had an equally state of the art kitchen, I couldn't really say anything.

There was a bathroom, an office, and a library all also on the first floor. Each one was as preposterous in its elegance as the last, with ostentatious furniture that flirted of both age and wealth. Their library had, not hundreds, but thousands of books on numerous book shelves – the office too had an egregious number of books. I could easily live in those two rooms and not leave for years.

When we finally reached the second floor, we went into the first room, which turned out to be Irina's bedroom. The bedroom was easily as large as two of the bedrooms in the Cullens house. In the center of the bedroom was a king size bed with – you guessed it – black satin sheets. I immediately looked away to keep from commenting on the cliche.

The room had several dressers, a large desk – I wouldn't call it a vanity, though I suspected that's what it actually was – and several paintings on the walls. Many of the paintings were abstract murals, actually reminding me in some ways of the hotel I'd stayed in just before I was turned, but there was one painting of people.

I stepped towards it. There was a single man in the painting with deep burgundy eyes. He was relatively skinny with black hair, including a half beard. He was tall, though, given that it was a painting, I couldn't be sure if he was as tall as me. He wore a scientist coat with a black suit underneath. On his left was a woman paler than him with white-blonde hair and piercing blue eyes that had on a thick fur vest and what appeared to be a skirt made out of a hide of some sort of tan animal. On his right was another woman, but she had dark skin, black eyes, and thick black hair that tumbled down her chest – it was a good thing too, because she had no top on, only a simple leather skirt. And finally, to her right, was a young girl, no more than ten with brown hair, freckles and green eyes in a little blue sundress.

"Who are these people?" I asked.

Irina stepped up next to me. "This is Joham." She tapped her finger against the man. "He's a very rare type of vampire. We often consider ourselves to be the succubus sisters, because we like to seduce and love men, but you see we're truly not – Succubus that is. He, on the other hand, is a Incubus. He's a non-venomous vampire with a very special gift – the ability to reproduce. These are his three biological daughters Serena, Maysun, and Jennifer." She tapped the blonde, followed by the topless one, and finally the child. "He has a son too, but I've never met him. This painting is about twelve years old, so Jennifer would be full grown now. I only ever met him and his children the one time."

Irina paused for a moment, frowning. "I was in London for a couple of weeks on a personal trip. Joham had heard of my sisters and I and what we called ourselves. He sought me out, hoping I was an actual succubus someone like himself. He wants to see if his children can reproduce with other children like his... and the only effective way to know for sure would be if there were offspring from another out there – as children born from the same bloodline would be... inconclusive, at best. He envisions himself as a... doctor of sorts, I guess you could say. The truth is though that he'll be lucky if he never gets caught by the Volturi." Irina shook her head. "I don't really care about him personally, but I do feel sorry for the girls because if the Volturi discover him, then they'll likely be killed as well. I made this painting here after meeting them."

…

There were five more bedrooms of similar size on the second floor, all of them furnished in the same elaborate designs and tastes. There were also two of the largest bathrooms I'd ever seen on the second floor. The third floor consisted of two suites – not bedrooms – suites; complete with massive bedrooms, sun rooms, sitting rooms, giant bathrooms and third floor balconies.

One of them was where Carmen and Eleazor stayed, while the other was currently empty, but had been where Carlisle and Esme had roomed the last time they'd lived with the Denalis.

When we finally made it back down to the first floor Irina took off while Tanya practically dragged Edward over to the giant concert piano, singing in an attractive base while Edward played. The music was beautiful, even more amazing sounding than it had been on the piano back in Forks... Sadly, I was too busy locking emotions tightly away to really enjoy it.

I finally got fed up with watching it and walked off, finding my way back to the office, where I found Eleazar looking over some fancy parchment paper. It was the type of paper I imagined you'd see people in the government and parliamentary using.

It wasn't until he moved one of the pages that the scent hit me.

"Those are from Aro?" I asked, my voice quizzical.

Eleazar glanced up at me. "Yes. He sent me a missive about an unfortunate event that occurred not that long ago."

"Hmmm." It was noncommittal on purpose. The last thing I wanted was to sound too curious about anything to do with Volterra.

"Yes, they're last human receptionist –" he looked down at his paper "– Gavin, betrayed them all. It's strange because I'm sure Aro vetted his mind before he let him come on to work for them. But apparently he convinced one of the oldest and most respected members of the guard, Mele, to go with him on a supposed recruitment run. Apparently it was a trap though as Mele's eyeless head was returned back to them by courier with a note from the Romanians about how they should keep better track of their pets. Apparently, the note also advised that the rest of her body had been burned to ashes. It's a saddening waste."

"It sounds awful," I said, my voice coldly numbs. But the words, at least, weren't a lie – it truly did sound awful.

…

When I made my escape from the house a couple hours later, making an excuse that I was wanting to go hunt, I didn't initially notice that I was being followed.